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The Living Sponge
a dystopian fiction
Biodesign Challenge 

The Living Sponge is a dystopian fiction that uses living calcareous sponge properties, creating artificial living sponges that interact with the environment by collecting and purifying water. The sponges grow as excess water falls from the karst landforms changing in response through rain and water vapour. The sponge may eventually take on a more controlling role in the community, through other karst regions, using adaptive technology devices and implants, creating bio- humans, enhancing human’s ability to live. This dystopian future may even go as far as speculating, take over and control societies globally taking away the rights of freedom through space we can interact with internal and external including tumours within the body.

 

Our dystopian concept explores the idea of a sponge implant dissolving into the bloodstream, attacking organs by growing sponges before emerging outwards. Scientific evidence by Munro suggests this could potentially cure diseases (Assunção et al.,2017). The sponge would be delivered through biotreated packaging that is sustainable and has a purpose for a second use creating a contrast between industrial and organic forms.

WHAT

Cross-disciplinary group project exploring biotechnology design avenues to produce a speculative critical design response to the subject; water, around the UN Sustainability goal eleven and towards the BioDesign Challenge 2021 brief. 

WHERE

Karst Regions

WHEN

June 2021

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